Subcommittee adopts H-1 substitute to House Bill 56 14, restores $20 million for trooper recruit schools

Chair Mueller called the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Michigan State Police to order and opened the meeting by acknowledging statewide revenue challenges while emphasizing the need to prioritize the Michigan State Police and trooper morale. "We wanna put $20,000,000 back into trooper schools and the retention and restoring faith and leadership," Chair Mueller said, framing that funding as central to the subcommittee's priorities.

Aaron of House Fiscal presented the H-1 substitute to House Bill 56 14 and detailed the budget changes. He said the substitute would reduce authorized staffing by about 335 full-time equivalent positions and cut roughly $44,700,000 gross, about 4.6 percent of the current fiscal-year budget. Aaron described specific line-item changes, including an $8.5 million reduction in IDG/IGT revenues, a $4.0 million decrease in federal spending authorization, a $43.5 million reduction in general fund spending offset in part by an $11.7 million increase in state restricted funding, and a net of several fund swaps that reduced general fund by about $3.5 million.

The presentation also identified policy-level shifts: the proposal moves the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLS) to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) budget (approximately $28,500,000 gross, $13,900,000 general fund), and it aligns several appropriated amounts with recent actual spending across operational and programmatic line items. Aaron noted about a 50 percent reduction in IT funding in certain lines and cited a $1.5 million general fund reduction reflecting the closures of the Northville and Grayling forensic laboratories. The substitute includes $10,000,000 in a one-time general fund line for a trooper school and additional targeted increases: $500,000 for cold case investigations and $500,000 for training for communicating with people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Representative Snyder asked why MCOLS was being moved to LARA. Chair Mueller said the intent was transparency: placing licensing for law enforcement under a licensing agency would reduce the appearance that the police were "policing themselves" and would put licensing responsibility with a separate department. Mueller also noted practical licensing activation and personnel issues that factored into the decision.

Following discussion, Representative Maddock moved to adopt the H-1 substitute to House Bill 56 14. The clerk called the roll on the motion: Chair Mueller, Representative Maddock and Representative Kelly were recorded voting yes; Representatives Snyder and Martis were recorded as passing (the clerk later summarized the tally as 3 ayes, 0 nays and 2 passes). The clerk announced that the substitute was adopted.

Representative Kelly then moved to report House Bill 56 14 as substitute H-1 to the standing House Appropriations Committee. The subcommittee voted with the same pattern (3 ayes, 0 nays, 2 passes) and reported the substitute to the full committee.

The subcommittee adjourned with no further business.